How do you feel about the Ribbon UI?


Recommended Posts

I am wondering how many of you Neowinians have an opinion of the Ribbon UI introduced in Microsoft Office 2007? Do you find that it increases your productivity or greatly reduces it? I am sure that you are all aware of this, but the Ribbon is a controversial user interface element, and if your productivity is reduced because of the Ribbon, there are several tutorials and tools written to safely disable the feature; one such tool is Winaero's Ribbon Disabler.

nbaXhki.png

As for me, I find that the Ribbon makes finding more advanced tasks easier. For example, by default, the Command Bar in Windows Vista and Windows 7 does not include options such as Copy To and Move To. These commands are, quite literally, front and center on the Ribbon in Windows 8. In fact, the Ribbon UI in Windows 8 is probably my favorite feature in that operating system! That is not to say that the I do not find faults with the Ribbon . . . It seems that in its attempt to make lesser known commands more discoverable, Microsoft had forgotten about more common commonly used commands. For example, why doesn't Paint include Undo and Redo options on the Ribbon?

For those interested, the Ribbon has a long history. Back in 2008, Microsoft's Jensen Harris had presented a session called The Story of the Ribbon, which discussed the design process and included several images of Ribbon prototypes. The Ribbon design goes back to 2003 when Windows "Longhorn" was in development.

t3A5ssd.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I like it in Office, but in Explorer I tend to keep it collapsed. Why? Because, unlike Office, most of the time you don't need any of the 'editing' functionality and you simply want the real estate so you can see more files. But I love the ribbon. I've been using Office 2007 since the very first leaked alpha build, later with the official beta builds (I was one of the few official testers at the time, I still have the first beta on official Microsoft-burned DVD's, with the brushed metal UI). I'm hitting 9 years of Ribbon usage in three months.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I wish it were customizable. VLC has an option to arrange buttons and save layouts to profiles. I just think it would be nice to have that for File Explorer.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

i prefer the term "Tabbed Toolbar" because that what they really are.

consider if browser toolbars/plugins/extensions are to be tabbed, i wonder how many would remain positive about it?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I like it generally. 

 

There are no complicated programs (i.e those with many many features) that I have encountered which were made worse by the ribbon. I found new functionality much quicker, was better able to navigate to features I wanted, and I also like the more cohesive design that a ribbon promotes vs. a million little toolbars. 

 

In some instances the ribbon promotes unnecessary complexity - Outlook and Photo Gallery being examples that immediately spring to mind. Collapsing the ribbon is not quite the solution that I want, and the quick access toolbar requires a reasonable bit of customization before it becomes useful.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's growing on me, and I like it more and more when I get to use it. I loved it in office, but since it's a little different in explorer, it's taking some getting used to. It's a little more old school, mixed in with some new school. It's evolving, so I'm not too quick to judge. Overall though: I'm liking the direction its' headed toward.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've liked it since it was introduced I usually hide it outside of Office though as I don't really use it in Explorer, usually use keyboard hotkeys.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I <3 THE RIBBON :wub:

 

 

It's helped reduce on screen clutter, while streamlining application's specific features. It's helped me (and others) identify features of Office and other applications that I never even knew existed, by bringing them forward in a visual and friendly manner, rather than hiding/burying them in menus and submenus.

 

 

EDIT:

Just for the record, these "Personalized Menus" *REALLY* drove me bonkers.

post-420821-0-12051200-1406668599.png

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

If it's used properly, and when it's appropriate, yes, the ribbon is a nice improvement over the pulldowns from decades past, just a lot easier and quicker versus going thru a ton of pulldowns to figure out where something is. Also like being able to pin frequently used items into the quick access toolbar. Especially like it when they put thought into keyboard shortcuts, so if you're a keyboard jockey there's no difference in interaction, minimize the ribbon and work exactly the same as before.

On the flip side though there's a handful of programs out there that implement it poorly or the program doesn't really need one in the first place.. converting a single menu with 3 or 4 items into a ribbon is just silly.

I also wouldn't want to see one in "professional" software. For example, Visual Studio with a bunch of addons has a gazillion menu entries, trying to shoehorn all that into a ribbon, never mind the extensibility issues.. near impossible. Right tool for the job.

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I like it, most of the Ribbon implementations I've seen seem quite reasonable. Best UI advancement (even compared to Metro since that has a long way to evolve) in a very long time.

 

The next step for the Ribbon would be the implementation of absolutely scalable assets and styles. Take Word 2013, for example. As you can see, some elements are scalable and show more controls and information the more you increase the window's size, but others remain static. Would be perfect if those that are static and small, for example, in the View tab, there are controls such as One Page, Multiple Pages, and others that remain small regardless of the size of the display. If these could grow, that would be quite nice.

 

Or take a look at Paint. The Cut and Copy controls, these should scale up on bigger window size, yet they are static.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

i prefer the term "Tabbed Toolbar" because that what they really are.

consider if browser toolbars/plugins/extensions are to be tabbed, i wonder how many would remain positive about it?

I like to use the official terminology.

 

I <3 THE RIBBON :wub:

 

 

It's helped reduce on screen clutter, while streamlining application's specific features. It's helped me (and others) identify features of Office and other applications that I never even knew existed, by bringing them forward in a visual and friendly manner, rather than hiding/burying them in menus and submenus.

 

 

EDIT:

Just for the record, these "Personalized Menus" *REALLY* drove me bonkers.

attachicon.gifScreenshot (4473).png

Yeah, the personalized menu feature is one that I have almost no use for . . . It is nice that it is there for those who want it.

 

If it's used properly, and when it's appropriate, yes, the ribbon is a nice improvement over the pulldowns from decades past, just a lot easier and quicker versus going thru a ton of pulldowns to figure out where something is. Also like being able to pin frequently used items into the quick access toolbar. Especially like it when they put thought into keyboard shortcuts, so if you're a keyboard jockey there's no difference in interaction, minimize the ribbon and work exactly the same as before.

On the flip side though there's a handful of programs out there that implement it poorly or the program doesn't really need one in the first place.. converting a single menu with 3 or 4 items into a ribbon is just silly.

I also wouldn't want to see one in "professional" software. For example, Visual Studio with a bunch of addons has a gazillion menu entries, trying to shoehorn all that into a ribbon, never mind the extensibility issues.. near impossible. Right tool for the job.

I agree. I admire why it was created and wish that Microsoft would add the Ribbon to the native Notepad Windows application, but one program that comes to mind that implements the Ribbon poorly is Notepad-7. Rather than combining all of the options in a single tab, Notepad-7 creates two additional tabs for View and Security settings; those two tabs each include only two options. Perhaps Microsoft could look at it as an example of what not to do if it decides to 'ribbonize' Notepad?

Example screenshot:

vKpA3a0.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The best two things about it is the Quick Access bar and the Minimize button. And it's the worst when the developer decides not to include the keyboard shortcut for the function in the hint for the button as it's not like there's a menu I can open up to see what it is.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Actually I have the original PowerPoints of Jensen Harris introducing the Ribbon. There were 2 events, there is only one still active on the Microsoft site.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I agree. I admire why it was created and wish that Microsoft would add the Ribbon to the native Notepad Windows application, but one program that comes to mind that implements the Ribbon poorly is Notepad-7. Rather than combining all of the options in a single tab, Notepad-7 creates two additional tabs for View and Security settings; those two tabs each include only two options. Perhaps Microsoft could look at it as an example of what not to do if it decides to 'ribbonize' Notepad?

Why not use Wordpad? It has a ribbon (that is applied in a similar, awkward fashion). I recall Microsoft did publish a Fluent UI implementation/best practices page at some point, with a "do not do this" example where they made a ribbon Calculator. Oh, it's here:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-au/library/dn742393.aspx

Also, for folks who love reading about design choices (and what could have been):

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/jensenh/archive/2008/03/12/table-of-contents.aspx

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Actually I have the original PowerPoints of Jensen Harris introducing the Ribbon. There were 2 events, there is only one still active on the Microsoft site.

The reason I linked to the archived PDF is because some of the links are apparently no longer active, and more members are likely to have an application for PDFs installed . . .

 

Why not use Wordpad? It has a ribbon (that is applied in a similar, awkward fashion). I recall Microsoft did publish a Fluent UI implementation/best practices page at some point, with a "do not do this" example where they made a ribbon Calculator. Oh, it's here:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-au/library/dn742393.aspx

Also, for folks who love reading about design choices (and what could have been):

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/jensenh/archive/2008/03/12/table-of-contents.aspx

The reason I would like a Ribbon in Notepad is because I thought it would be nice if most of the Windows accessories had a somewhat consistent interface (which is slightly funny since they did before the Ribbon was added) . . .

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The reason I linked to the archived PDF is because some of the links are apparently no longer active, and more members are likely to have an application for PDFs installed . . .

 

The reason I would like a Ribbon in Notepad is because I thought it would be nice if most of the Windows accessories had a somewhat consistent interface (which is slightly funny since they did before the Ribbon was added) . . .

No, No I wasn't complaining. :)

 

Anyways Office's ribbon is great, yet on Windows 8 I wish you could have a choice between the ribbon and the Windows 7 UI. I find the Ribbon obscures too much of the screen on my Surface, while on Laptops and Desktops it is great. I agree that it shows more commands up front.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

The reason I would like a Ribbon in Notepad is because I thought it would be nice if most of the Windows accessories had a somewhat consistent interface (which is slightly funny since they did before the Ribbon was added) . . .

 

I hear you about consistency, but as per Microsoft's example, the best use of the Ribbon is for programs that have quite a large number of features. Notepad is quite simple. As zhangm suggested, why not wordpad? 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Anyways Office's ribbon is great, yet on Windows 8 I wish you could have a choice between the ribbon and the Windows 7 UI. I find the Ribbon obscures too much of the screen on my Surface, while on Laptops and Desktops it is great. I agree that it shows more commands up front.

 

Just hide it. Technically, you don't need the Ribbon in Office either, if you know the shortcuts.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It grew on me and I like it ever since. Only thing I'm missing from these "tabbed" interfaces is a native "tabbed" explorer, so you can have multiple folders open in one window. For a lot of copy / paste / file work I still use FreeCommander while Explorer could do just fine if it implemented such a feature.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It looks nice and It works well with the few programs that use it like Windows Live Essentials & Microsoft Office. However, I don't think it would work well for some programs as I can't imagine using it in Paint.NET or FileZilla. And honestly, I think programs need to have a ton of functionality before it should even be considered for use of a program's main interface.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

one program that comes to mind that implements the Ribbon poorly is Notepad-7. Rather than combining all of the options in a single tab, Notepad-7 creates two additional tabs for View and Security settings; those two tabs each include only two options. Perhaps Microsoft could look at it as an example of what not to do if it decides to 'ribbonize' Notepad?

That's an excellent example of what I meant -- the ribbon is an excellent tool when used properly, and downright laughable and/or a crazy waste of space when it's not. Trying to shoehorn it into every program "just because" is a losing battle. I'm a fan of consistency but something like this wouldn't work for a lot of things.. rather they go for functionality first, looks second. Seen some desktops go the opposite route (Gnome for example) and usability takes a nosedive all in the name of looking pretty.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I wish it were customizable. VLC has an option to arrange buttons and save layouts to profiles. I just think it would be nice to have that for File Explorer.

 

try dolphin. it's the most customizable file explorer out there. does everything and a bit more. also available for windows i heard.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

try dolphin. it's the most customizable file explorer out there. does everything and a bit more. also available for windows i heard.

 

 

I have QTTabBar for Windows. I enjoy it very much. I still think it's something that should be provided by Microsoft and not a third party program. I tried to find Dolphin. It did look good, but I couldn't find the Windows version.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This topic is now closed to further replies.